Articles

Simms sold to Vista Outdoors for $192.5 million

The iconic fly fishing brand will retain its Bozeman roots

by Hatch Magazine - Friday, Jul 29th, 2022

Photo: Simms Fishing Products.

Simms Fishing Products, one of the most iconic brands in the fly fishing industry, will be sold to outdoor conglomerate Vista Outdoors. According to a recent release from Simms' new parent company, the two brands have entered into a definitive agreement for Vista Outdoors to acquire the Bozeman, Montana manufacturer of waders, wading boots, and countless other fishing products for $192.5 million. Vista Outdoors' portfolio includes popular outdoor brands such as Camelbak, Bell, Giro, Bushnell, and Remington firearms.

Review: Simms Flyweight Access Wading Boots

Do Simms' featherweight wading boots with novel sole technology live up to the hype?

by Johnny Carrol Sain - Thursday, Jul 28th, 2022

The Simms Flyweight Access Wading Boots (photo: Johnny Carrol Sain).

Along with the litany of ailments typical of one’s body wearing out, aging anglers also tend to accumulate fond but false memories of days gone by. The sunrises seemed brighter, the air a bit sweeter, the best fishing not far from the truck, and our reflexes so very much quicker.

Two of those four we are remembering correctly.

Dumpster diving for whitefish livers

Going the extra mile for a little-known Wisconsin delicacy

by Tom Davis - Wednesday, Jul 27th, 2022

Greunke's Inn in Bayfield, Wisconsin (photo: Greunke's Inn).

One gray, chilly afternoon in late-October, I drove out to the Hickey Brothers’ place to see if they had any whitefish livers—a delicacy, found only in scattered fishing villages on the northern Great Lakes, whose fans are almost cult like in their devotion. A friend from Iowa who’d fallen under their spell was arriving to hunt grouse and woodcock and I knew he’d go weak in the knees if I told him that sauteéd whitefish livers were on the menu.

Pursuing a carbon neutral fly fishing industry

Can an industry entirely reliant on healthy ecosystems achieve net zero emissions?

by Amanda Monthei - Saturday, Jul 23rd, 2022

Dave McCoy speaks to anglers and shop goers inside Emerald Water Anglers in Seattle, Washington

There’s a hydrologic shift happening in the world’s watersheds, one that is profoundly impacting the way rivers flow and how fish exist within increasingly variable and unpredictable environments.

Salmon farming’s dirty business

A new book looks at the “dark underbelly of our favorite fish”

by Tara Lohan - Friday, Jul 22nd, 2022

Salmon farm in Scotland (photo: SumOfUs / CC BY 2.0).

Sometimes all it takes is a single photograph to change someone’s mind or inspire them to take action. For Catherine Collins and her husband Douglas Frantz, that was a photo of a yardstick plunged 32 inches into filth below a salmon farm near Port Mouton, Nova Scotia.